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Countries around the world are racing to harness the potential of artificial intelligence models and solutions; the EU is not an exception. On the contrary, the European Commission has set out presently two new strategies to ensure European digital advancements in activating AI adoption in key industries and in AI-driven science. The Apply AI and the AI in Science strategies are the next step in delivering the EU-wide digital ambition.
Background
Already in January 2024, the Commission launched a package of measures to support European startups and SMEs in the development of trustworthy AIs. In August 2024, the European AI Act entered into force and guidelines on prohibited AI practices were published on 4 February 2025.
In July 2024 the amended EuroHPC JU Regulation entered into force, allowing the set-up of AI Factories; and in December 2024, seven consortia were selected to establish AI Factories, followed by six additional consortia in March 2025.
At the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025, the Commission President announced InvestAI program, an initiative to mobilise a €200 billion investment in AI across EU member states.
In April 2025, the Commission launched the AI Continent Action Plan, setting a path for Europe to become a global leader in AI. The EU is engaged in the global race for leadership in AI: in includes, e.g. creating cutting-edge foundation models to specialised AI applications, and facilitating the AI landscape in the member states political economy.
The process is dynamic and is driven by research, emerging technologies and a thriving EU-wide system of startups and scaleups. The AI Continent Action Plan is basically the EU-wide “booster” for the European AI innovation capabilities through actions and policies around key development areas.
More on AI continental plan in “Commission sets course for Europe’s AI leadership with an ambitious AI Continent Action Plan” (9.04.2025), in: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_1013
Two new strategies
Two new AI strategies are setting a course to make Europe a global leader in trustworthy AI. The EU is having presently four super-computers in the global top 10; and is expected to set up about 5 digital gigafactories (just six years ago it has had two).
Based on the EU-wide and strong AI infrastructures, coped with the Europe’s talent, vibrant research and innovation, excellent startups, as well as the tradition of collaborative science, high-quality data and world-class research and technology infrastructures, etc. the EU is well positioned to accelerate the use of AI in key development and science sectors.
First, the Apply AI Strategy sets out the ways to speed up the use of AI in the EU member states’ key industries and the public sector; the second, AI in Science Strategy focuses on putting Europe at the forefront of AI-driven global research and scientific excellence.
Source: Commission launches two strategies to speed up AI uptake in European industry and science, in: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_2299
= Apply AI Strategy
The Apply AI Strategy aims to harness AI’s transformative potential by driving adoption of AI across strategic and public sectors including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, energy, mobility, manufacturing, construction, agri-food, defence, communications and culture. It will also support the SMEs in the states oriented towards their specific needs in order to assist national industries integrating AI into their operations.
Concrete measures include establishing AI-powered advanced screening centres for healthcare and supporting the development of frontier models and agentic AI tailored to sectors such as manufacturing, environment and pharmaceuticals.
To boost AI adoption and support these measures, the Commission is mobilising around €1 billion. In the future, new initiatives in areas like finance, tourism, and e-commerce could complement these sectors.
The “apply strategy” will help boost EU capabilities to unlock societal benefits, from enabling more accurate healthcare diagnoses to enhancing the efficiency and accessibility of public services. It encourages the so-called “AI first policy”, so that more companies would consider AI as an integral part of the solution to tackle challenges, while taking into careful consideration the benefits and risks of the digital technologies.
The strategy also addresses cross-cutting challenges: accelerating time-to-market by linking infrastructure, data and testing facilities; strengthening the EU workforce to be AI ready across sectors; and launching a Frontier AI initiative to support innovation by bringing together Europe’s leading AI actors. The renewal and deployment of the network of European Digital Innovation Hubs, transformed into Experience Centres for AI, will give companies privileged access to the EU AI innovation ecosystem.
To coordinate action, the Commission is launching the Apply AI Alliance, a forum bringing together industry, the public sector, academia, social partners and civil society. An AI Observatory will monitor AI trends and assess sectorial impacts.
In parallel, the Commission has launched the AI Act Service Desk to help ensure smooth implementation of the AI Act.
= AI in Science Strategy
Alongside the “apply AI strategy”, the AI in Science Strategy positions the EU as a hub for AI-driven scientific innovation. The AI technologies are transforming both businesses’ operations and public services; besides, the AI models are fundamentally reshaping numerous branches of natural, exact and social science.
At the strategy’s basic center in RAISE (the Resource for AI Science in Europe), which is a virtual European institute to pool and coordinate AI resources for developing AI and applying it in different scientific fields.
Main actions in the “scientific strategy” include:
1. Excellence and talent: measures to attract global scientific talent and highly-skilled professionals to ‘Choose Europe’. This includes €58 million under the RAISE pilot for Networks of Excellence and Doctoral Networks to train, retain and attract the best AI and scientific talent.
2. Compute: €600 million from Horizon Europe to enhance and expand access to computational power for science. This investment will secure dedicated access to AI Gigafactories for EU researchers and startups.
3. Research funding: aims for doubling Horizon Europe’s annual investments in AI to over €3 billion, including doubling funding for AI in science.
4. Data: support for scientists to identify strategic data gaps and gather, curate and integrate the datasets needed for AI in science.
The Commission’s Joint Research Centre is contributing to both strategies, producing technical assessments, sectoral studies, and a new report on AI’s impact on science and research practices
Commission’s opinion
Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation notes that “with the AI in Science Strategy, Europe is taking a decisive step to stay at the cutting edge. We will give our researchers, startups and SMEs the tools to turn ideas into breakthroughs, driving competitiveness and moving faster from lab to market. RAISE will be the catalyst, pooling resources, mobilising investments, and attracting top talent from across Europe and beyond”.
Citation from Commissioner Zaharieva statement (8.x.2025) on the AI in Science strategy in:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_25_2324
More information in the following Commission’s websites: = Apply AI Strategy; = AI in Science Strategy; = Factsheets: Apply AI, AI in Science & AI@EC; = Questions and answers: Apply AI & AI in Science; = Joint Research Centre Report on AI in science; = ResearchComp: the European Competence Framework for Researchers.